Twenty-five years ago, ordinary people became extraordinary. Firefighters climbed stairwells they knew they might not descend. Strangers carried strangers to safety. Neighbors opened their homes, their cars, their arms to people they had never met. In the worst hours our country has seen, the best of who we are showed up.

We remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day, and the families who have carried that loss for a quarter century. We remember the first responders who ran toward danger while everyone else ran from it. We remember the everyday people who acted without hesitation because someone needed help.

Twenty-five years is long enough for a lot to be taken for granted. The freedom to move through our day without fear. The people we get to come home to. The community that shows up when things go wrong. The chance to serve someone else, even in a small way.

Today, we pause to remember those we lost, honor those who ran toward the danger, and recommit to the kind of neighbor, coworker, and citizen this country needed twenty-five years ago and still needs today.

Never forget.